Faster, Higher, Stronger-XXX London Olympics

27th July saw the commencement of the XXX Summer Olympics being held in London. A spectacular opening ceremony, which had some of the best entertainers performing and a special appearance by the Queen and 'James Bond', Daniel Craig kept the audience spellbound. Bollywood great Amitabh Bachchan's run with the Olympic torch and AR Rehman's performance during the opening ceremony were the high points for all Indians during the inaugural part of the sporting extravaganza.

The motto of Olympics is Citius, Altius, Fortius which in Latin means Faster, Higher, Stronger and was proposed by the father of the modern Olympics, the French nobleman Baron Pierre de Coubertin and introduced and accepted during the Paris Olympics in 1924. The spirit of the games has over the years bonded the world together and has also given rise to some phenomenal sports persons and their tales of heroism and indomitable spirit have become legendary.

Jesse Owens tryst with 'Nazi' Germany and Adolf Hitler during the Berlin Olympics of 1936 or Nadia Comaneci's perfect 10 during the Montreal Olympics in 1976 are just two incidents that come to mind where  superhuman efforts at the Olympics became part of folklore and inspired millions around the world.

The wrestler KD Jadhav, independent India's first individual medalist fought not only against his opponents in the Helsinki Olympics of 1952 but also against government apathy and poverty. He had to himself sponsor his trip and participation in the Olympics. He fought and won inspite of the system not because of it. The main thing was he had confidence in himself and did not buckle under pressure be it mental, physical or financial. 

What every Blue Carameler needs to learn from the Olympics is that though the participants have enormous pressure to cope with, the rewards of coping with pressure and fighting it out and becoming victorious has a feeling and satisfaction that no other thing in the world has. Best of Luck to the Indian Contingent at the London Olympics and all the very best to the Blue Caramelers for these last 2 days of July! GodSpeed and no rest till we are the best!

Captain Lakshmi Sahgal-Salute

July has been a month which has seen stars being robbed from us, be it the glamour world or be it the social arena. The latest star to have departed for her heavenly abode is Captain Lakshmi Sahgal, a revolutionary of the Indian independence struggle.

Born Lakshmi Swaminathan in Chennai, Dr Lakshmi Sahgall led a very colorful  heroic life and was a famed gynecologist and a devote social worker. She had to face a lot of hardships in her life like the early demise of his father and a failed marriage but she she was determined to fight it out. Her life took a new direction after she went to Singapore post the failure of her marriage when she came in contact with the members of the Indian National Army (INA), popularly known as the Azad Hind Fauj. Lead by the great revolutionary Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, INA was formed to free India from the clutches of the colonial British rule. Dr Lakshmi became Captain Lakshmi when she was entrusted upon to form and lead the all women's INA regiment the Rani of Jhansi regiment. The regiment performed heroically during the IInd World War but INA after initial successes had to beat a retreat. Most of the prominent INA commanders including Capt Lakshmi were arrested by the British and a trial was initiated against many of them. In fact, the famed INA trials or Red Fort trails of Delhi also acted as a catalyst to hasten the end of the colonial rule of the British as it led to larger discontentment amongst the masses.

Till her very end, Captain Lakshmi led a very active life and tended to her patients even 2 days before her demise at the ripe age of 97 years. She was also a member of the Rajya Sabha, the House of Elders in the Indian Parliament and was also a presidential candidate in the year 2002. The revolutionary and visionary that she was, she even donated her body to the medical college for research rather than getting it cremated.

The thing that all Blue Caramelers should learn from Captain Lakshmi is that life could some time become very miserable but the real mantra is to learn from it and not be captivated by it. If Captain Sahgal had only lived in her past brooding over her father's early demise or maybe the failure of her marriage, then she might not have become the Captain Lakshmi Sahgal, the country came to respect and adore. The fact that she  remarried and had a very happy married life is also a testimony to her zest for life. Let us not be the prisoners of our past but be the architects of our future by doing things in the present. Let all Blue Caramelers in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Mumbai stretch ourselves in these last 7 days of July and open the gates for a wonderful future, that is all I wish, for now atleast!

Babu Moshai, Kaka, Rajesh Khanna

18th July happens to be my wife's birthday and is usually associated with fun and frolic. This year too personally it was a time to rejoice but it was also a day marked with a certain degree of sadness because of the death of Rajesh Khanna, the first super hero of Hindi film industry, Bollywood at the age of 69. Though surrounded by his family, the super star of yester years, basically died a lonely man.

The rise of Jatin alias Rajesh  Khanna was phenomenal. He started his film career after winning an acting talent contest and then continuously churned out 15 hit films in about 5 years making him the undisputed king of the Indian cinema of the late 1960s and early 1970s. People and more importantly he himself thought that he had the 'Midas' touch and was invincible when it came to giving hit movies. He was loved and adore by the millions of Indian cine lovers and he had a legion of doting female fans. This immense success, unfortunately, made him arrogant and he started believing in his own invincibility

One has to run the hardest when one is at the top just to retain his position and this is just what Rajesh Khanna, believing in his own world, did not do. He took things for granted and did not re-invent himself and remained caged to his chocolaty lover boy on screen image. Post the 1971 Bangladesh war saw the emergence of a new more combative India and people wanted to see a new avatar on the Indian cinema scene. Rajesh Khanna was offered many roles which exemplified a new persona, that of an Angry Young Man. he rejected them all. As is the case always, some one's loss is some one's gain, these roles were clinched by the new kid on the blocks, Amitabh Bachchan and the rest as they say, is history. It was the beginning of the end of the Super stardom of Rajesh Khanna. The once invincible super star became a prisoner of his own creation. He fell out with most of the directors with whom he had worked during his hey days and gradually faded out of the public's memory. Amitabh Bachchan's super stardom has continued till date but Rajesh Khanna died basically a forgotten star. A star who evoked fond memories of an era gone by but not connected with today's world.

Blue Caramelers have a lot to learn from the life and times of Rajesh Khanna. The most important thing for all of us is to never take things for granted. We need to continuously innovate and re-invent ourselves so that we are not left behind by the competition. The second thing is that we all need to be very aware of our own surroundings and immediate environment for which we need to do our homework well with respect to our competitors and products and services available in the market. And last but not the least, we need to understand that getting to the top might be any easy thing but to remain there is perhaps one of the toughest jobs.Anyway, with the month of July in full swing and with Jodhpur and Jaipur having opened up their revenue accounts, the fight for the numero uno of Blue Caramel for this month is on. May the best location win!!

Champs all the way!

Today is the death anniversary of my grandfather, Mr Ashoke Chandra Mitter, former director of DMG, Rajasthan, an administrator par excellence and a human worth emulating. He lived a very disciplined and a very enjoyable life and left us at the ripe age of 87 years, still enjoying his meal and malt. His principle in life was very simple, enjoy each moment but never over indulge. A true Champion and an idol, will always miss you.

Talking of Champions, this week saw the re-emergence of two supreme athletes from the field of tennis. The Wimbledon this year took all, back in time and the champions in the mens's and women's categories were ex-champions Roger Federer of Switzerland and Serena Williams of the USA. The irony of these triumphs was the fact that most people, except the duo themselves, believed that they were past their prime and were gradually becoming spent forces.

Roger Federer, the boy from Basel, has over the years become the most prolific champion in modern day tennis with 17 Grand Slam titles. Winning this year's Wimbledon made him the joint highest winner of the title along with the great Pete Sampras of the US and William Renshaw of Great Britain, but this win was his first grand slam title since his 2010 US Open triumph. All was not well for the "FEDEX" as Federer is popularly known, as age was catching up with him and he was accused of loosing his motivation in this fiercely competitive sport. The emergence of new players like Rafael Nadal of Spain and Novak Djokovic of Serbia also saw the undisputed King of the Courts loose his throne. But that is when, Federer decided to have a relook at the way he was playing the game and made some finer adjustments in his game, which have reaped him dividends now.

Serena Willaims, with 14 grand slam titles is again a Champion women's tennis player. Through her tennis career, she has seen ups and downs on a regular basis both professionally as well as personally, but on all occasions she has prevailed through sheer grit and determination. After a freak accident in 2010 she was diagnosed with a hematoma and pulmonary embolism. This was a career threatening ailment and most people started writing her professional obituary, but she did not give up and after long spell of rehabilitation, she won the Wimbledon title this year for the 5th time.

All Blue Caramelers should understand that the human story has always been of "Fights" and "Flights". Those who have confidence in themselves and their own skills, keep on fighting till they are the Champions; on the other hand those who flee away from situations, keep on fleeing all their lives. So, lets salute all the Champions and also the Champions in each one of us, so that we are remembered as Winners and not Loosers, even when we are not there.

Sri Krishna and Shishupala

As June comes to an end, I have been pondering about the actions and inactions that have taken place in the world of Blue Caramel during this month. We three, Shinod, Himanshu and myself were more preoccupied with other endeavors, so in a sense it was an appropriate time for the rest to stand up and be counted. Analyzing the performances, I suddenly remembered the interesting story of Shri Krishna and King Shishupala from the Hindu Mythological epic, the Mahabharata.

Shishupala was a cousin of Lord Krishna, who was born with 3 eyes and 4 arms. Lord Krishna cured him of this deformity. But unknown to Lord Krishna,  Shishupala was born under a curse in which it was prophesied that he would be killed by the person who cures him from his deformity.  When Shishupala's mother, Srutakirti, the aunt of Lord Krishna came to know of this, she begged Krishna for mercy. Sri Krishna promised that he would forgive Shishupala for 100 sins that he committed but would kill him, if he committed his 101st sin.

With time, Shishupala grew up to be a handsome prince and eventually succeeded his father as the King of Chedi. But his arrogance and recklessness kept on increasing. As promised, Sri Krishna overlooked 100 of his misdeeds but as soon as he committed his 101st sin, he beheaded Shishupala with his Sudarshan Chakra.

All Blue Caramelers should understand that they are being watched and analyzed for all their deeds or misdeeds and believe me, if things are being overlooked as of now, it is just because, we want to overlook them. But when even Shishupala met his fate after he went too far at the hands of Sri Krishna, what are we? We are mere mortals!

Indian Express-The clash of the Titans!

The summer of 2012 is seeing a flurry of activities from the field of sports. After the success of IPL5, UEFA Euro12 and the impending London Olympics are setting up the pace. Speaking of pace, brings me to the curious case of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati, the two stalwarts of Indian Tennis and their love-hate relationship.

Paes and Bhupati, who formed one of the most successful Doubles pair that the tennis world has every seen, have some how fallen apart in the last few years. Dubbed the "Indian Express", the pair which once was the top ranked doubles tennis team in the world has broken up because of issues which are more personal than professional. The aim of every sports person representing the country at the Olympics should obviously be to get a medal for the country but in this "Clash of the Titans" the aim seems to be brinkmanship and nothing else, with even other players like Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza jumping into the fray.

The All India Tennis Association (AITA) too has been guilty in leaving things and important decision making for the last moment and that has acted as a catalyst for the unfortunate flare up in the tennis arena. Sania Mirza's grudge that she has been used by the AITA as a bait for the "hurt and disappointed " Leander(Lee) Paes, the highest ranked doubles player in India, today, seems to be genuine. That she has been asked to pair with Lee just after she has won the French Open title with Mahesh (Hesh) Bhupati defies logic. 

The focus now seems to be how to manage the bloated egos of our tennis heroes and not how to win a medal at the Olympics. In this mish mash of clashes and disputes, Indian tennis seems to be the greatest looser. The AITA by failing to have a concrete plan for the London Olympics seems to have managed to come up with a perfect recipe for impending Tennis disaster at the Games, in a sport in which every Indian would have hoped that the country would get at least one medal after Leander's bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

For all Blue Caramelers, the lesson we all need to grasp is that ego clashes lead you nowhere and that by failing to plan, we are planning to fail.

Mr Trouble Shooter

As the month of June continues in all its fury with the sun blazing and Rajasthan facing regular power cuts, it has been a heated month filled with activities both within as well outside Blue Caramel.

The most talked about activity that has taken place and in fact is still in process is the election of the President of India. As the tenure of the first woman President Smt Pratibha Devisingh Patil came to an end amid unprecedented controversies, the political parties were embroiled in a literal slug fest to elect the new President.






After Trinamool Congress(TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee and the wily Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav came to an understanding, the Congress was forced to announce the name of its most trusted lieutenant Pranab Mukherjee as its Presidential candidate despite strong opposition from the TMC chief. After the TMC backed former president APJ Abdul Kalam withdrew his name from the presidential race, the election of Pranab Mukherjee, as of now, seems to be a forgone conclusion. 

Pranab Mukherjee has been a politician par excellence for the last 4 decades and the aura that he has, has no competition in the Indian political scenario today. The well educated Pranab has had a rich experience in policy making and has held important portfolios like Home Ministry, Finance Ministry, Defence Ministry to name a few. He also shares an amazing camaraderie with business leaders, policy makers and politicians cutting across political lines and that actually makes his stature all the more creditable.

His political longevity has so many lessons for all Blue Caramelers to learn from. Some of the the things to grasp from Pranab Mukherjee are:

1) It is never too late to learn-  The erudite Pranab is an avid reader and still looks forward to grasp new things.

2) No one has ever died of hard work- Pranab at age 76 still puts in more than 16 hours a day at work.

3) Mr Trouble Shooter- Pranab, through the years, has never ever shied away from any responsibility. This has helped him develop his all round abilities and made him Mister Trouble Shooter of the Congress and the government.

4) Developing and nurturing relations- Pranab is a typical networking man. He has gradually developed and nurtured relations that have stood him in good stead..

5)   Subordination of personal goal over organisational goal-  Pranab has always kept the requirements/goals of the country or his party above his own goals. He served under Manmohan Singh, the very man whose boss he was, when Pranab was the Finance Minister and Manmohan Singh was the governor of the RBI. Another example is when Mamata demanded a special financial package for West Bengal, that would have seen him being hailed, he replied that he was a Finance Minister of India and not India, thereby provoking Mamata and TMC. 

All in all, though Pranab da might have a long list of short comings but his strengths clearly outweigh his weaknesses and these strengths are something that all Blue Caramelers should emulate.